Browsing Category : Destinations

I like to go to movies alone. I always try to make sure there is one empty seat right next to me so that I don’t get distracted. I don’t always succeed with my seating choice. In fact, most of the time I fail miserably. If it is a great movie, that sucks you in with an emotional storyline, the task…

No country is perfect. Everyday I find this statement more true than ever. I miss some things about living the expat life in the USA, but I also appreciate cultural differences, so whenever I start fantasizing about how great New York was or find myself complaining about Russia, I try to step back and remind myself that there was a reason why…

It is New Years eve and there are hundreds of things running through my mind, one of them being my New Year Resolution list. I look up the goals I wrote last year – some of them are a done deal, some are there to stay forever and will probably never materialise. I don’t know whether I want to learn…

London houses are built for people to sleep in, not to live in, London pavements are deprived of trees and its park lawns are painfully liveless. London air is a condensed tangle of destructive energy, blistering cold and intrinsically male. I arrive in the middle of a work day. The subway is cramped and there is little space for my…

Some people put London high on their list of cities of historical and cultural significance, but to me this city is the only non British spot in the whole country. No doubt you will be able to find all the usual attributes of British lifestyle: Buckingham palace guards, the Royal family, afternoon tea, double decker buses, Notting Hills houses and…

When it comes to Moscow, one simple phrase comes to mind – “always in flux”. You never know whether you will see the same city or it will reveal a completely unknown face after couple of years of your absense. I guess this is the case with a lot of historically rich cities in developing countries. Yet Moscow is not only a…

When I see photos of New York my whole world collapses. The bright photos of Empire State lights, empty West Village streets, Brooklyn Bridge wires, intended to lure in tourists and dreamers, appear on my Instagram feed with brutal consistency. And when they do, my heart, that has been in some state of hibernation for the past 6 months, starts beating…

“Freedom is claimed, not received.” You might be scared to travel alone because you don’t want to feel lonely, you are a bad planner and your map reading ability is not something to be proud of, because you can’t control your spending or because you don’t like talking to strangers, but you should not be scared to travel because you…

“We are all visitors to this time, this place. We are just passing through. Our purpose here is to observe, to learn, to grow, to love… and then… we return home.” (Aboriginal proverb). Ever since I came back from New York one question keeps coming up in all conversations – “Why did you leave New York?”. People would sometimes elaborate by saying…

Saint Petersburg is gorgeous. It is so underrepresented in guides and online blogs, due to onerous Russian visa regulations, but it is the most unique city I ever visited. Saint Petersburg has everything: beautiful water canals, impressive architecture, rich history, authentic food, delicious coffee, friendly locals, convenient transportation and well planned infrastructure. While two years ago navigating Saint Petersburg without…